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Two-thirds of Irish people taking statins do so for prevention

Article originally posted by The Irish Times. Click here for the full article.

‘BMJ’ study finds many taking statins do so as preventative measure against heart attack.

The national study of 5,618 people aged over 50 between 2009 and 2011 found about one-third of Irish adults of this age group were taking statins. Those surveyed were part of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).

Nearly three-quarters of women who were taking statins did not have a medical history of cardiovascular disease, and were taking the medication for primarily preventive reasons. The number of men taking statins for “primary prevention” was lower, at 57 per cent.